Keith-CPR
by itsgonnabemay5
Summary: Keith almost drowns in a pool due to Lance's carelessness. Lance gives Keith CPR.


"Come on, Keith! Last one in's a rotten egg!" shouted his boyfriend, Lance, teasingly.

Despite his fears, Keith bolted from the changing room, following an excited Lance to the indoor pool of the castle. Keith didn't know how to swim very well, but he was going to keep that bit of information to himself. He'd never live it down if Lance found out.

Once he entered the pool area, he saw Lance make a splash as he dove in head first. He watched him swim through the water and grasp onto the edge. "It's a little cold, but do-able. Get in!" Lance called him forward with a hand.

Nervously, he slowly walked over to the other end (the shallow end) and put his feet in hesitatingly. The water was lukewarm and felt nice on his skin. He lowered himself in as he went down the steps, grabbing onto the side of the pool.

"You could've jumped in, you know," Lance said as he swam expertly toward him, swimming laps around him in circles.

Keith glared at him but kept his mouth shut. "I don't know why you like swimming so much."

Lance shrugged. "What's not to like about it? It's fun, it's exercise, and it's almost like flying."

Keith couldn't deny that any of that was true. Lance had a point. The problem was that he'd never taught himself how to swim. He could barely dog paddle. Keith stayed put, letting his arms sway freely in the water as he watched Lance swim crazily about. Lance was a great swimmer and had learned at a very young age. Keith couldn't help but be a little jealous.

Keith scanned the waters but couldn't see Lance anymore. Maybe he was in the far deep end? As his eyes searched the water from a distance, a large object sprang up in front of him, scaring him half to death. "Lance!"

Lance grabbed Keith's wrist and pulled him through the water toward the deep end. Keith's pulse quickened at the thought of leaving the safe, shallow water against his will. "Lance, no! Stop!" he cried desperately. He thrashed his arms and feet around, kicking furiously in a failed attempt to get Lance to stop and to keep himself afloat. His face was dragged under and he spat out some water.

Lance was laughing as he stopped in the middle of the pool, turning to look at Keith, who wasn't smiling. "What's the matter, Keith? You never want to have fun."

Keith's eyes narrowed, his mouth in a hard frown as he held onto Lance's arm in a death grip.

"Ow, that hurts," Lance said. He could feel Keith's nails digging into his skin. He was about to pry Keith's hand away when Keith pulled and clasped tighter. "Hey, what gives? I was only trying to have some fun."

"Fun? Dragging me through the water unexpectedly is fun?" Keith spat.

Lance could tell Keith was really angry with him, so he thought he should tone it down a little and give him some space. "Ok, fine. Geesh, I'll back off. Sorry." Lance turned and swam away in the opposite direction.

Without Lance's hand gripping his, he had nothing to hold onto, and Keith was left floating in the middle of the pool, alone. Suddenly panicked, Keith began to sink. He kicked his legs back and forth, trying desperately to tread water, but it was no use. He was sinking, his chin now just above water. "Lance!" he screamed, but Lance was under water. He couldn't hear him.

He screamed out again for help, but the words were garbled as his mouth and nose dipped under the surface. His pulse was racing and he could feel his heartbeat pounding through his ears. The rest of his body went under despite his thrashing around. He kept trying to break the surface, but nothing happened except for sinking.

A few minutes later after Lance resurfaced, he noticed Keith was missing. "Keith, where'd you go?" He wondered if he had left the pool because he was mad at him. "Keith?" He kept searching until he spotted a dark spot at the bottom of the pool. _No, it couldn't be._

Lance dove under the water towards the object and when he realized what it was, he swam faster. He reached out and pulled Keith's heavy body from the bottom of the pool and swam with him in his arms towards the surface.

Using the sudden adrenaline, he lifted him out of the pool and stretched him onto the concrete. "Keith, wake up!" Keith's body remained still and limp. Lance placed his cheek to Keith's nose but couldn't feel any breathing. He also felt no pulse in his neck.

"Darn you, Keith! Wake up!" He didn't wish to have to do this, but he knew he needed to start CPR. If Keith didn't make it out alive, this was all his fault. He interlocked his fingers and put his hands over Keith's chest, pressing down quickly as he counted. "1,2,3,4. . ."

Once he got to 30, he placed his lips over Keith's mouth, giving him rescue breaths. He had always wanted to kiss him, but this was definitely not the way he had planned. He checked his pulse, but there was nothing. "Shiro, Coran, somebody help!" he screamed, a combination of water and sweat trickling down his forehead.

His voice echoed in the room, but no one came. There was no time to run for help. He began the compressions again, pressing harder and faster than before. He was getting tired. He wasn't sure how much more of these he could do.

Suddenly, Keith made a gargling noise. Lance stopped immediately, eyes wide. Keith began coughing and throwing up, both vomit and water. Lance quickly turned him to his side until the coughing slowed.

Lance rubbed his back. "Keith, are you okay?"

Keith coughed again several times, wiping his mouth. His eyes creased like he was in pain, and he placed a hand to his chest. He cleared his throat, breathing rapidly.

"Are you hurt?" Lance asked, placing a hand on Keith's knee. "You had me so worried." He felt his own heart slowing down a pace as the realization hit that he was going to be okay.

Keith winced. "My-" he started to say, but another coughing fit hit him. "My chest hurts."

Lance looked down at Keith's hand which was holding his chest protectively. "Might have been from the CPR." Keith looked at him like he had three heads. "I think we need to get you to Coran, have you get checked out. I'm so glad you're okay!" he said, and he almost knocked Keith down as he went in for a hug, mindful of Keith's sore chest.

Lance helped Keith walk with his arm around his waist as they went to see Coran. After a quick chastising from the older man, he turned his attention to Keith, who was still struggling with breathing and coughing.

They placed him on a bed in the infirmary and placed a cannula in his nose to give him some oxygen. After a bit, his breathing turned to normal and he started to relax a little, but Coran didn't miss the look of pain in his eyes every now and then.

"Keith," Coran said. "You look like something's hurting. What's wrong?"

"My chest hurts," he admitted. It burned just about every time he breathed.

"Aw," Coran said knowingly. "We need to check your ribs for damage. CPR is quite hard on the body." He retrieved his bone scanner and hovered it over Keith's chest. "It appears your sternum is fractured as well as three ribs."

Lance frowned, knowing it was him who had caused it.

Keith tried sitting up to get more comfortable, but it put a strain on his broken ribs and he groaned.

"Stay down, honey," Lance said, gently pushing against Keith's shoulder. "You'll only hurt yourself more."

"That's right," Coran agreed. "You'll need to stay in bed and rest for the next few weeks until they heal. Now, let's get them wrapped so you can rest."

"Well, can't we just get him in a pod?" Lance said, asking the obvious.

"I'm afraid not, Lance. They're being worked on. We've been having some technical difficulties and they all need some maintenance. They won't be ready for some time," Coran said.

After wrapping Keith's chest, Coran left the two of them alone.

"How do you feel, Keith?" his boyfriend asked.

"I'm okay," Keith said, but his look of pain said otherwise.

"No, be honest with me. Are you in a lot of pain?" Lance asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Honestly? My chest is on fire and it hurts to breathe," Keith answered.

"I'm sorry, Keith. It's all my fault this happened. I shouldn't have put you out in the middle of the pool." Lance looked sullen and looked like he was on the brink of crying. "Why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?"

"It's not your fault," Keith said. "I should've told you."

"But still-"

"Babe, listen to me," Keith interrupted. "What happened, happened. We can't change the past. I'm gonna be okay." He put a hand to his chest and flinched, forgetting for a moment about his busted-up sternum.

Lance scowled in sympathy for the poor boy. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain even with the pain meds Coran had given him. "I think you should get some rest."

Rest sounded really good. "Okay," Keith said, feeling his eyes getting heavy.

Lance put the covers over Keith's chest before resting in the chair beside him. "Good night, love."

"'Night."


End file.
